Perthes disease was first described in a series of papers almost a century ago (1909–10). Its treatment has always been controversial and has included casts, braces, bed rest, weight bearing, non-weight bearing, physiotherapy, soft tissue release, femoral osteotomy, pelvic osteotomy and various combinations of these. Now (Ola Wiig and colleagues. The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. British volume 2008;90-B …